My great-grandfather's brother, Seamus, was the presidential bodyguard 1861-1865. He kept Lincoln safe throughout the civil war. According to family history, John Wilkes Booth would not have been successful in his attack on the president if Abe hadn't ordered him to stay home and guard Tad, his youngest son.

“Commitment means that it is possible for a man to yield the nerve center of his consent to a purpose or cause, a movement or an ideal, which may be more important to him than whether he lives or dies.” – Howard Thurman (1900-1981)